Traditional cancer treatment methods not 'ideal,' Turkish medics say

Traditional cancer treatment methods like chemotherapy and radiotherapy are not ideal anymore, a Turkish medical oncology specialist has said ahead of World Cancer Day on Feb. 4, underscoring that new ways are being developed to prevent the growth of cancer cells by exploring the "cancer maps" in human genes.

"Older treatments like chemotherapy and radiotherapy are not ideal or 'smart' any more, as these methods also kill healthy cells," Istanbul-based medical oncology and internal medicine Prof. Canfeza Sezgin told the state-run Anadolu Agency in an interview, adding "new ways are being developed to prevent the growth of cancer cells by exploring the human genetic cancer maps."  
      
Sezgin said "smart medicines" have been used in the last four-to-five years in Turkey and could be used alone or with chemotherapy.

"We are doing genetic tests on patients to determine their cancer's characteristics and looking at whether it is suitable for smart medicines. If it is, their life expectancy [can be] doubled," Sezgin said.
                   
"This has led to improved molecular drugs - so-called smart medicines. In our country, smart medicines have been used for between four-to-five years," he added.

According to Sezgin, these smart medicines directly target cancer cells, killing and preventing growth, potentially increasing the average lifetime of patients by about 30-40 percent from initial diagnosis.

According to a 2012 Health Ministry report, every year about 105,000 men and 71,000 women are diagnosed with various cancers in Turkey.                

Although cancer continues to claim many lives and devastate families across the country, new treatment methods and medicines are being found to send cancers...